Central Coast Mariners
Media Release
Thursday, 25 September
Mariners desperate for breakthrough home win
On the back of three convincing Hyundai A-League performances at home and away, the Central Coast Mariners have set their sights on a breakthrough season four triumph at Bluetongue Stadium when facing the Perth Glory tomorrow night.
The luckless Mariners have been forced to settle for a draw in each of their Hyundai A-League matches over the past fortnight, despite stating strong claims for all three points on both occasions.
While the points the Mariners have perhaps deserved have not been forthcoming, the quality of their performances has not been in question and with veteran defender Andrew Clark recovered from the flu and available selection, the Mariners are again primed for a shot at their first Hyundai A-League triumph at their Bluetongue Stadium home in 2008/09.
Aside from Clarks inclusion, the Mariners also have Qantas Socceroo striker Nik Mrdja available for selection, which in addition to the inspiring form of frontline threesome Dylan Macallister, Sasho Petrovski and Matt Simon sees the Mariners well covered up front.
Furthermore, exciting attacking midfielder Greg Owens will continue his recovery from a long-term hamstring concern when potentially running out for the Mariners National Youth League selection in the curtain raiser ahead of tomorrows match, though Dean Heffernan and Andre Gumprecht will continue to watch from the sidelines.
"Weve had three really good performances on the trot, we drew against Wellington where we should have won and we should have won against Melbourne at the weekend, but that last four seconds cost us," said Mariners Football Manager Lawrie McKinna.
"Some of the football that were playing and the intensity that the team is playing with is good, Im happy with where were at, with a wee bit of luck we could be sitting near the top of the Hyundai A-League."
Past clashes between the Mariners and the Glory have been among the most significant in the short history of the Mariners.
Firstly, the Mariners claimed their first ever Hyundai A-League silverware when defeating the Glory 1-0 in the inaugural Pre-Season Cup final at Bluetongue Stadium, before notching their first ever Hyundai A-League win against the Glory at Members Equity Stadium less than one week later.
The Mariners then recorded their first ever Hyundai A-League home win in Round 8 of the Hyundai A-League 2005/06 season against the Glory the 4-0 score line recorded that evening is also the Mariners all-time greatest winning margin in the Hyundai A-League.
The Mariners record against the Glory at Bluetongue Stadium is also an impressive one the Mariners having won all four Hyundai A-League matches against their Western Australian rivals at home since season one and conceding just one goal in the process.
"The boys know that the last few minutes against Melbourne was disappointing, but overall the performance was very good," said McKinna.
"I was upset after the game and had a bit of a go at them, but in the next breath told them how well theyd done, because they did do well.
"Perth this week will be a hard game, they proved it last year when they came to Bluetongue and physically dominated us for most of the first half before we won the game 1-0.
"Theyre going to be big and solid, we need to be on our game and we need to be patient and we should do well."
Central Coast Mariners Squad
4. Pedj Bojic, 5. Bradley Porter, 6. David DApuzzo, 7. John Hutchinson, 9. Nik Mrdja, 10. Adrian Caceres, 11. Dylan Macallister, 13. Paul OGrady, 15. Andrew Clark, 16. Nigel Boogaard, 17. Matthew Osman, 18. Alex Wilkinson, 19. Matt Simon, 22. Sasho Petrovski, 23. Mile Jedinak, 30. Andrew Redmayne (gk), 40. Mark Bosnich (gk) *two to be omitted
The Mariners are back at Bluetongue Stadium on Friday, 26 September, when they continue their Hyundai A-League 2008/09 campaign against the Perth Glory in Round 6. Kick off is at 8pm.
The Mariners National Youth League team will make its first appearance in the new elite competition for Australias best young players before the main game, also against the Perth Glory. Kick off is at 5.15pm.
